Wis. man breaks into house, sleeps on couch, eats cornbread

We've got all sorts of fun Wisconsin news to round up a wonderful Thursday afternoon. Casual robbers, Facebook blackmailers, pet killers, lesbian beaters, and a religious leader accused of hiding a corpse on a toilet. Can Minnesota top that? Never.

PRESTON, Minn. -- According to court complaints, Steven Robert Brobst, 42, of Waterford, Wis., entered the house the night of Jan. 16. The homeowners found him sleeping on a couch at 4:15 a.m. the next morning. At first, they thought he might be their son's friend. When they realized he wasn't, they hid in a bathroom and called 911.

When Brobst woke up, he allegedly ate some cornbread, rummaged through a wallet, let the family's dog out of its kennel and went through the family's laundry. The homeowner said Brobst took a jacket. Before Brobst left, the son heard him say, "Thank you for the cornbread and heat" and, "I am also stealing your coat or jacket."

A Hudson man accused of hate crimes against a lesbian woman appeared in court Monday to plead not guilty to four felonies and a misdemeanor. The 35-year-old woman had testified in December that Warren punched her in the face, pinned her to the floor and threatened to rape and kill her after making obscene comments about her sexual orientation.

MAUSTON -- A religious leader has pleaded no contest to hiding a decaying corpse on a follower's toilet. They say he and follower Tammy Lewis kept a 90-year-old woman's body on Lewis' toilet so they could collect her Social Security checks. Lewis reached a plea deal in November.

PORTAGE -- A Wisconsin lawmaker has made no response in court to drunken driving and marijuana charges. Columbia County prosecutors charged Jeff Wood, a Bloomer independent, last month. He faces four misdemeanor counts, including a third drunken driving offense and marijuana possession. According to a criminal complaint, a state trooper found the 39-year-old Wood urinating on the side of Interstate 90 on Dec. 12.

RIDGELAND -- A firefighter was away from his Dunn County home when the call came over his pager about a fire in Ridgeland, and the location was all too familiar. The page said it was a home in Colin Allen's trailer court and one that had an outside wood stove. Allen says he knew his house was the only one with an outside stove.